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31 May 2009

Morning all, Sunday has arrived and this week I have a fabulous artisan to share with you. She goes by the name Random Granny and she makes fabric dolls. They are not your regular Pollyanna rag doll. They are fantastically alternative. Random Granny's Hitcher doll (sadly now sold) was the first of her dolls I saw and as a huge fan of The Mighty Boosh I just had to invite this talented lady to be Artisan of the week. I'll let her tell you a little more about herself and her craft.

1. Could you please introduce us to who you are and what you do? Hello, I am Random Granny and I love to make unusual fabric handmade dolls. I am based in Northampton, UK and sell locally in the old Fishmarket at the ‘Bicycle Basket Bazaar’ and also on Etsy and Coriandr. I have always been creative and studied art many years ago at Goldsmiths College in London. As a fairly new venture, Random Granny currently only sells dolls but due to the randomness of my interests I intend to expand my range. I have previously collaborated with my husband who makes automata so we intend to offer some more unusual items. (keep watching!)

2. What led you to take up your craft?I have sewn the odd thing since I was young but a year ago a friend set up the local handmade goods bazaar and I went along to support him with only three dolls. They sold so quickly and were so well received I decided to continue and have expanded my collection. This has also lead to commissions for personalised dolls. My main inspiration is my love of reusing things (especially fabric!) and creating slightly different less cutesy items. Although I initially became interested in the Japanese kawaii style amigurumi which I also make, I wanted to create something more British and slightly darker with a hint of humour. I have a huge love of British comedy and our culture and I think that has a great influence on my work.

3. Which part of your work do you most enjoy? Without doubt I love to collect new (old) pieces of fabric and dream up new ideas. Each bit of fabric has endless possibilities and imagining what I am going to do next is wonderful.

4. Which part do you find hardest? I suppose parting with some of the dolls is probably the hardest thing. They are often limited editions due to the vintage fabric and I fall in love with some of the dolls!

5. Where do you hope to be in 1 year’s time? I hope to be doing what I do now. Everything I make is handmade by me so I am pretty small scale. If I can continue to enjoy making and selling new creations I will be very happy. Making a living……..well that’s a different thing!

6. What is the best advice you have ever been given?Never eat yellow snow. Seriously!

7. Could you name artisans sites/shops would you recommend are worth a Visit? I always check out mollychicken to see what she is up to. Her designs are lovely but I also love the way she writes. She is a very funny lady! Everyone who could get to Northampton should check out Bicycle Basket Bazaar and come and visit us. I love Skull a Day definitely worth a look if you like something different.

8. What is your favourite sandwich filling? I introduced a friend to a peanut butter and pickled onion sandwich the other day with excellent results but others have expressed stomach turning reactions to this. But I say, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Thank you for taking part in our blog Random Granny! I often find that people are agog at my choices of sandwich filling combinations, so I'm not knocking peanut butter with pickled onions. I might have to give them a go once I have some pickles. I adore your skeleton dolls. I might have to recruit one for my Pirate Pixie Crew, maybe as a figure head for the Galleon. I'm very excited and eager to see your future creations.

30 May 2009

Morning all.With the latest Star Trek movie released less than a month ago, what better time to have a feature on Star Trek for the bloggie! Here is a collection of my favourite items that I found this morning.

First item to beam down today is this cool Sulu 2gb Usb stick and its' matching Pez dispenser from dhhdesigns. Incorporating two of my favourite things (computers and sweets), this would be an ideal present for any sweetie-eating geek!

Set phasers to stun-ner with this beatiful Star Trek corset as made by EveningArwen. How could Kirk resist this beatiful creation?!?! It probably wouldn't fit me, but I reckon this would look awesome on Lynne!

Mind meld yourself to these magnificent meerkats in Star Trek costumes, from the crafty hands of NiftyKnits. Not only am I a fan of meerkats and of Star Trek, but Im also a big fan of random things, and this certainly is very random. It is sure to bring a smile to the faces of anyone who sees them!

You'll want to Klingon to this awesome hat, made by Wonderland Creations! Let out your inner Worf by donning this all day, jumping out of bushes at strangers, shouting "K'PLARGH!" at the top of your voice and challenging all comers to blood knife! (Then just invite them round for a cup of tea and some cake!)

You'll live long and prosper with our final item, this beautiful Uhura picture from NonObjective. This 9x11" print would look fantastic on any mantlepiece or wall, so give in and buy it today!

That's all for today readers, the sun has most certainly got his biggest and brightest hat on today, so I'm going to go outside and roll around in the heat! We have to make the most of the sunshine when it is here in Wales! Have a great weekend everyone!

28 May 2009

Yesterday I got a parcel through the post from Molly of Blackberry Crafts. A couple of weeks ago she ran a pay it forward feature on her blog after receiving some gorgeous hand painted yarn from Katrina of TomatoTea. I happened to comment on just how lovely handmade yarn is and Molly kindly picked me to receive a parcel. It lifted my spirits so much to just receive the parcel let alone to receive what was inside. I can't adequately explain in text just how bouncy happy I was once I'd torn open the brown paper. Inside were the contents below, some super soft knitted hand warmers, a bright red knitted bracelet with 3 cherry red buttons and a giant brown button badge. They are all so gorgeous and all are handmade. Molly's work is fabulous! Thank you for cheering up my day Molly!!!

Why was I feeling down? Well today would have been my Fathers 75th birthday, if he hadn't have passed away at the age of 60 from a massive heart attack. I was kind of dreading today coming, because although it is 15 years since he died, I can't help missing him and thinking he should be here to celebrate 3/4 of a century of life.

Molly's generous parcel reminded me that he was full of kindness and joy and would have been over joyed to see me bouncing about singing at the top of my voice. He would hate to think his birthday was a cause of upset for me and my brothers and sister, so today we will celebrate how fabulous he was instead of spending time being sad at him not being here.

My dad is one of the main reasons I became creative. He always encouraged me as a child to find out how things worked. The number of things I took to pieces just to see what made them do what they do, I've lost count, and where most parents would chastise their child for pulling apart an antique clock, he smiled and ask me if I'd figured out what made it tick yet. After I'd told him how I thought the thing I'd dismantled worked, he would then ask me to try and put the thing back together, so I learned how to create and build things too. This is how I came to learn to both knitting and crochet. I took things apart by unravelling them and watching how each stitch worked and how they fitted together. Thank you Dad for your support and for not trying to curb my inquisitive nature!

So to pay forward Molly's kindness and generosity and to celebrate my dads 75th birthday I'm going to make 3 parcels of handmade goods and send them out to 3 people. If you'd like the chance of being one of the 3 tell me something you love about your dad/main male role model in the comments on this blog post and the 3 I like best will get a PIF parcel.

27 May 2009

The VIP on the Coriandr Express today is Julie Mills of Handmaid, a creator of scarves, purses & knitted goods. It is clear that Julie loves fabrics and takes time in searching for, or creating fabrics to use in her work. There is a strong Bird theme running through her shop at the moment. As you can see from the pretty pieces below.

This unique flying bird purse is hand printed and embroidered.

This sumptuous silk scarf was digitally printed and lovingly hand stitched by Julie.

This cute little purse is made of hand printed fabric to match the scarf.

So as you can see Julie is multi talented and shows many skills in her work. Check out her Coriandr shop for other items, not all of which are bird related.

26 May 2009

We have people that kindly sponsor us by advertising in the Project Wonderful ad boxes on the right hand side of this blog. To show them our gratitude we like to showcase items from their stores. So that's what I'll be doing today.

Baghy makes these stunningly beautiful hand bound & designed journals& note pads. They are exquisitely made and I am sure they would delight anyone lucky enough to own one. Why keep notes in a dull mass made note pad when you could be using one of these.

Bigbluebed makes a mixture of goods from moo card holders to these Paisley Flower Fabric Brooch Corsage. This lady is well known for her handmade Dorset buttons too. If you'd not sure what they are go and see her shop to find out.

Cymbaline's Designs sells jewellery as you can see above. There is a very vintage feel to most of the pieces in the shop. I love the salmon red chrysanthemum cabochon in this piese, but if red isn't your colour there are many others to choose from.

Aunti Franni creates fun embroidered items. I love the Yarn and hookbones above. I should have one of these sewn to all my clothes seeing as how I'm addicted to yarn and crochet. If this one doesn't float your boat there are lots of other designs and styles sure to wow you.

Fanciful Form makes stunning works of art in polymer clay and then turns them into Jewellery. This white chrysanthemum pendant looks as delicate as a real flower and it's elegance shines out of the photograph. This would make such a beautiful necklace for a wedding day or special occassion. Gorgeous!

So once again I would like to thank these and others that regularly sponsor our blog by paying to advertise on it. Having seen these gems, I'm sure I don't need to ecourage you to click on ther ad's as you will be very eager to find out what other amazing goods you can find behind those 125 pixel square images.

25 May 2009

That is the question I got asked this weekend by someone that makes the most beautiful items that I would love to feature if only the photographs of them weren't so awful. Don't worry the person in question won't be reading this and saying "Well bloody cheek why didn't she tell me that instead of making up excuses?" because I did tell them that. You see, I don't see the point in making excuses if the persons items really are feature worthy and it is just the photos letting them down. Yes, telling them may hurt their feelings for a little while, but isn't it better to know the truth? I think so. Then they can do something about it and increase their potential for free publicity and also increase the chances of people buying their goods.

The main things I see wrong with photographs that stop me using them on the blog are:-

1. Bad lighting - This ranges from over lit to under lit, from items washed out by flashes to items you can barely see because the photo is so dark.

Use natural light if possible, but if not, try using "day Light" bulbs directed at the item through a diffuser from both sides and above to try and cut out any ugly large shadows. Avoid using a flash at all times as unless you are a very skilled photographer this will normally flatten the image and wash out colours or cause deep ugly shadows. Make sure your lighting doesn't affect the colours of your piece. If it totally washes out one of the colours it won't give a true representation of what you are selling.

2. Badly staged - If you are going to stand your item on some fabric as a background, make sure it is crease free, lint free, stain free and not a colour/pattern that fights for the viewers attention more than the item for sale. If you are using paper of card the same thing goes. Think about how it will look in the photo. That pretty scrap booking paper may look lovely as an A4 sheet, but if you close up on a small amount of it, as background to earrings, does it just look like toilet tissue with stains on? If your item is very large and you stage it in a room or outside, be aware of the items in the background. Do you really want people to see your rubbish bin in the shot, or your knickers on the washing line.

Just take time to set up an interesting shot that shows off your item to it's best. Don't be afraid to try taking the picture at lots of different angles to see which is best for making the item pop from the background of the photograph. Find a lay out that suits your goods and your over all brand look and perfect the staging until the item you are selling jumps out of the photo at you, looking all stunningly amazing.

3. Fuzzy focus - Sharp focus is a must when trying to sell goods on-line. People want to be able to see clearly what they are getting if the purchase from you.

Most digital camera's have a macro or super macro setting. This is usually represented on the camera as a flower in a box. Using this will allow you to get much sharper close up photographs. Try it out and see the effect. Set up the same close up shot and take one with the setting on and one with it off. You'll be amazed at the difference in clarity.

4. Cut out photos - These are the photos where someone has taken a picture of an item, found that the back ground looks too dark or has something in it they dislike, so they try to cut the item out and place it on a clean white background. The reason I dislike this kind of photo is because unless you are a photoshop master with wild wizardry skills in photographic manipulation you will just end up with an item that doesn't sit within the photograph at all and looks very wierd as the light and shade of the item do not follow through into the background and they look utterly unworldly.

I would advise against doingcut outs as it takes much longer to do them, usually, than just setting up the shot again and retake the photograph with a better backdrop.

5. Badly framed/cropped - When taking the main photograph of the whole item you are selling make sure you get the whole item into shot. Don't accidentally cut off the edge of a the item. If you need the item's photo to be square for the site you sell on, make sure you leave enough space around the item in the shot, so when you crop the photograph to be square you can do so without losing part of the item.

It is fine to have close up shots of parts of your item but in at least one shot we want to see the whole item and it just doesn't do it for me if that shot has a bit clipped of. That to me just looks as if the person hasn't taken care when shooting the photographs.

I know it is hard to get it right and in all honesty I'm still working towards that perfect picture of my own goods, but some of the photos people submit to me asking to be featured are so awful I just have to turn them down, even if I know the goods they sell are stunning. That's the way it is with promoting people on-line. Even if I like their goods I won't put them on the blog unless I thinks the photos are good enough. Beautiful pictures is one of the things that keeps people coming back to the blog.

24 May 2009

Today I have the great delight of introducing you to the wonderful Kristina of Flutterby Creations and Eco Products 4U. This lovely lady does something that I so much long to learn to do. She is a spinner and dyer of fibres and creates some of the most gorgeous looking yarns that I have seen. Not only does she spin, but she knits, sews and creates beautiful jewellery, so she abounds with many creative talents, but as you will see when you read the interview her main passion is fibre...

1. Could you please introduce us to who you are and what you do? Hi my name is Kristina, a slightly eccentric WAHM to two lovely kids & husband. Unfortunately I am pretty much disabled by POTS which has effected so many areas of my life. I am currently living in West Wales, where the sea so often inspires me. That's who I am, now what I do.

I run Flutterby Creations selling a range of hand dyed / painted yarns, hand spun & knitted items. These are all made by my fair hand. I find it best when I have multiple projects on the go, so I also write and working on a new venture called Eco Products 4U. The aim is to set up a website which promotes, not only eco products, but ethical shopping practices. So people who are hobby / micro / small or family businesses, who produce products are able to sell them in the shop. The shop will have all the selection of a big department store, allowing people to add multiple items from different suppliers, checking out at one point. With the ease of shopping from your arm chair. All products are dispatched from the individual suppliers to cut down on packaging and excess postal cost. It is also home to the Fibreholics Box, which is a box of yarn & fibre samples from among the best independent fibre artists. The box will be available from the 1st of July. Eco Products 4U is still very much in its infancy, but I hope that this may yet be the way of the future, whilst also acting as another outlet for my much loved creativity!

2. What led you to your craft? When I was going through the hard realisation my health condition was going to be affecting my life forever, and that I could not do normal things like go for a walk, run and play ball with the kids. A good friend of mine challenged me to learn to knit socks! She said it would give me a direction for my built up frustration. I had knitted since a child, on wet days when staying with my grandparents, but had never done much more than scarves! So sock knitting led on to other sorts of knitting and a whole new obsession. I joined Ravelry at her recommendation and led me to meet some fantastic people, who fuelled my obsession, by introducing me to hand painted yarns! I also met on Ravelry other people who suffered from the same condition or similar chronic illnesses to what I have. They recommended that I try spinning, so I did. My spinning teacher said I was a natural, and a wheel, a pile of fibre later, another obsession was formed!

How I came to sell it... A lovely friend of mine who run Eco Knits, saw some of the fibre & hand spun I had dyed and suggested I would want to sell it in her shop, so I did. Another dear friend set up Flutterby Creations website. My husband was complaining about the amount of money I was spending out on yarn, so he suggested I dyed my own. I tried & it worked out fine!

So in short what led me to my craft - my friends and my passion for colour.

3. Which part do you most enjoy?I do this so that I can feed every ones yarn addictions mwhahaha, yarn is so addictive you need more of it! I do it because I love colour. I am also doing eco products 4U because I genuinely care that 'little' people, who are the bricks & mortar of the economy get a chance to be seen in their glory.

4. Which part do you find hardest?Not knitting every yarn I produce! Also balancing my drive and ambition, with a body that has it's own agenda in life. There are times when I am so tired I literally doze off on the sofa where I am working. Or if I have done to much the dyeing in a day, I usually end up collapsing in the evening. The trouble is what is too much can vary from day to day! Still though I am finding a better balance now.

5. Where do you hope to be in 1 year’s time?I would like flutterby creations yarns to be recognised up with the likes of the larger independent dyers. Fibreholics Box to prove a success and we can spread the who yarn / fibre addiction thing to a new level.

6. What is the best advice you have ever been given?The sort that is free & unbiased! The sort that comes from people who really care about you.

7. Could you name artisans sites/shops would you recommend are worth a visit?Oh my, soo many ! Nicknots, I love her bags, and she is a great person too! Babylonglegs - I just love her passion for colour. Oh and of course anyone from the Fibreholics box (links on blog)

8. What is your favourite sandwich filling?Not the biggest fan of sandwiches, however there is one that is a absolute hit! Crispy bacon on toasted bread, with roasted garlic mayo!

Thank you for taking part in our blog Kristina. I would never have known, had you not said, that you had POTS. You are such an industrious person. All credit to you for working around such a debilitating condition. My favourite of your yarns on sale on your website is Slinky singles. I love the colours! When I finally find the time to getting around to learning to spin I'm going to have to get you to give me some tips and hints on creating the perfect yarn. So dear reader if you have been inspired by Kristina to use hand made, hand dyed yarns check out her websites to see where you can get the best!

23 May 2009

This week was the first of 10 weeks of the Coriandr Express Promotions train. The aim of this train is to showcase the beautiful work of people that sell through the Coriandr handmade market place. Each member of the train will have 3 days of being the VIP on the Coriandr Express and on those days all the other passengers on the train will spread the word and show off the work of that VIP.

22 May 2009

I was introduced to a new website the other day by Helen of Kitty Ballistic called CraftGawker. If you have never seen the site I'd advise you to take a look. The site allows you to submit photos and stories about hand crafted items. They have strict submission policies and the site is juried. Your submission will not immediately appear. It will have to be approved first. They judge by clearness of photos rather than item, although the item in the photo must be hand crafted, but as you will see if you click the link to the site, the entries they have allowed through really are gorgeous. I spent a happy hour at 5 am this morning (yes, couldn't sleep last night) looking through the photos and clicking on them to go to peoples blogs, websites and shops to see what else they have made.

Snarkledark's sheep Phillis, with it's large ears and pretty face, just made my heart melt. I love the swirly wool pattern that covers this piece, but most of all I adore it's little stumpy feet. Such a beautiful piece of work.

Now if Phillis the sheep didn't have you sighing "Ahhh" most surely Kathy Neilsen's baby in a crochet hat and cocoon will. The photo by Kel Ward is stunning as is the cocoon and hat. That baby is just soooscrummy!

Plum and Sage's necklace attracted me because of the duck egg blue colour of the enamel on the domed circular pendants. The photograph really shows off the beautiful sheen and enamel's speckled colouring.

Regular readers will be well aware of my fibre fetish and this yarn from Goble Warming has had me checking my paypal account to see if I have the money to buy it. The colours are so beautiful. I love the contrasts between the 2 ply of the yarn.

Crankbunny's paper puppets are so delightful. This mesmerizing mermaid is but one of them. My favourite in her shop though has to be her robot. The attention to detail in the printing is perfection. Great work!

So if you are looking for for beautiful photos of fabulous hand crafted creations the get Gawking! There are hundreds of dazzling photos to see. You are sure to find something you love.

21 May 2009

Today is the first day of Izabela of Bluefish Handmade's VIP days on the Coriandr Express, so I thought I'd pick out my favourite item from her shop to share with you.

These beautiful crochet flower corsages are a perfect alternative to fresh flower corsages for someone like me who dislikes cutting flowers from plants. They are also perfect for those with hay-fever. They are gorgeous! Check out the other goods in Isabela's shop. She is a very talented lady!

I've been so busy in the last couple of weeks that I haven't had much time to let people about my new listings on Coriandr, so I thought I'd share a few with you here.

All of these items are listed in myCoriandr shop and as usual all are handmade by me. If you see something that you would like in another colour, let me know as I am happy to custom make for you.

20 May 2009

Morning all. I'm running a bit late today and my body is in slow motion too, so to cheer myself up I thought I'd look through the entries we have for this months Creative Challenge. We already had some beautiful entries this month and there is still time if you want to get involved. I love the different ways each person interprets the topic. May's topic is 'children'.

The first person to add items to the Flickr group is the ever so lovely PrincessTigerMouse. This lady, despite her busy life with a young baby, is passionate about crafts and arts and regularly enters our creative challenges. Each time she does she creates something new and beautiful to share with us. She is a very talented woman, and her baby Izzy is gorgeous!

SaraCarr is a new comer to our challenge and is most welcome. This little man above is called Bert and he just tugged at my heart strings as he reminded me of HumptyDumpty I used to own when I was a child. He looks to me like he is sleep walking. He needs to be tucked back up in bed. Beautiful work Sara!

Ok so now your heart has melted and you have stopped saying "Ahhhhh" I'll tell you who this beautiful baby is. This little munchkin is the nephew of Starpixie and this is him at 7 weeks old. Starpixie is a very talented photographer as this photo shows. She has a great eye for composition and lighting. We have featured her photos before and I would strongly advise you to check out her work on Flickr.

There are many people in Firefly's nest and as the picture says they are crowded. Coming from a family of 4 children I know that feeling of being crowded in. I love the way the nest/basket is drawn in this picture and adore the multicoloured patterned bodies of the people. They all seem very happy to be squished in together. I think this would look fabulous framed and on the wall of a children's bedroom.

Thank you to all those that have already submitted items and all of you that haven't yet but are thinking about it, well get a wriggle on. I'm longing to see what you can create!

19 May 2009

I saw so many lovely newly listed goods on the front pages of the handmade sites today that I picked out the ones I liked most and gathered them together here to share with you. Three of the sellers are people I've not seen before so not only new goods, new shops to view too. Bliss!

This is one of the sellers I've not seen before. This "Sun burn big ears rabbit cell phone pouch" is from Lily Handmade. I'm so glad I saw this bunny on the front page of Artfire as it lead me to a shop full of gorgeous goods.

Ruby Spirit Designs is a fellow seller on Coriandr and a rider on the Coriandr Express. One of her beautiful rainbow pins caught my eye on the front page. I love the combination of button and beads on the kilt pins. They'd look great holding a shawl in place or jazzing up a plain messenger bag.

StarFlower is another of the new sellers and this Earth Goddess felt figure is just so beautiful. I like the cascading leaf design that looks like hair and the round ripe belly that looks full of new growth. She is tiny, all hand sewn and perfectly formed!

Yippeeeee! Kitty! Artractions' illustration just filled me with delight as soon as I saw it. I'm not sure how I have not noticed this shop before. The work within it is stunning. This kitty is a limited edition print so hurry and get your copy.

Copper metal has always fascinated me. A lot of my older family members, when I was a child, wore copper bracelets and the way the metal aged and tarnished caught my imagination. For You Designs' wire wrap copper bangle is bringing back fond memories of loved ones that are no longer with us.

I guess what today has shown me is to remember to look at the newly listed items on the front pages of all the handmade sites, because it has lead me today to lots of beautiful new shops to favourite and look through. I LOVE handmade goods!